Anyone try nitro cold brew?

#1: Post by **Iowa_Boy** » July 24th, 2018, 10:35 am

I am fascinated with nitro cold brew and would love to try it at home. Unfortunately, it seems like most of the at home solutions aren't very good. I have read reviews about whipped cream cannisters and nitrogen cartridges, but it doesn't seem like it dissolves much into the coffee. Some of the other more expensive setups look promising, but there are very few reviews. Anyone doing this at home with any success and what system are you using?

#2: Post by **mivanitsky** » July 24th, 2018, 10:50 am

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/48 ... ffee-maker

This is coming out soon, and looks promising. Whipped cream canisters work ok, but make very small amounts of coffee, and it's not the same as real nitro cold brew, due to nitrous oxide vs nitrogen.

#3: Post by **LBIespresso** » July 24th, 2018, 11:39 am

Iowa_Boy wrote:I am fascinated with nitro cold brew and would love to try it at home. Unfortunately, it seems like most of the at home solutions aren't very good. I have read reviews about whipped cream cannisters and nitrogen cartridges, but it doesn't seem like it dissolves much into the coffee. Some of the other more expensive setups look promising, but there are very few reviews. Anyone doing this at home with any success and what system are you using?

I first tried it at a coffee shop in Snowbird, UT about 5 years ago. Looks cool, like a pint of Guinness, and tastes great. Plus a serious caffeine kick to start off a day on the mountain! I remember looking at some options to make it at home and thinking it could be done with a nitro beer keg system. Pretty sure there are some small systems out there. Try searching for home brew beer instead of coffee and you might stumble on a good option.

#4: Post by **TomC** » July 24th, 2018, 12:04 pm

mivanitsky wrote:https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/48 ... ffee-maker

This is coming out soon, and looks promising. Whipped cream canisters work ok, but make very small amounts of coffee, and it's not the same as real nitro cold brew, due to nitrous oxide vs nitrogen.

Pure N2 cartridges are also available, outside of the manufacturer of the NitroPress. I've only done it with the N2O ones, just to play with it, I'm not sure how different it would be, but if someone already owns a whipping siphon, you could probably use N2 cartridges and get near identical results and save a lot of money.

https://www.amazon.com/N2-cartridge-Bre ... B079YM1NH6

#5: Post by **MSS** » July 24th, 2018, 12:30 pm

To get the cold brew to dissolve into the coffee so that it is creamy, takes a special tap. The tap is similar to what stout beers are poured with. You can do with home brew systems using nitrogen and the special tap, there is also some discussion of how long of a hose to use, some say at least 20 feet.

#6: Post by **tglodjo** » July 24th, 2018, 1:22 pm

I have the new Nitro Press from Hatsfield London (purchased from Prima). It was a gift, and the giver didn't realize that cartridges are sold separately. I tested it out with N2O cartridges, which was fun and tasted fun, but it was really foamy. Looking forward to getting some N2 catridges for the full experience.

#7: Post by **HoldTheOnions** » July 24th, 2018, 1:38 pm

This seems to work ok. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubUUdDYNgqQ

#8: Post by **yakster** » July 24th, 2018, 6:31 pm

Should be able to put a hose and a nitro tap on a whip cream siphon and get the same effect. I was planning on doing this with the Kegulator from Drink Tanks that I backed on Kickstarter three years ago, but it never materialized.

Stout taps are pretty expensive, but I was looking at modifying a picnic tap like this (http://www.homebrewtalk.com).

#9: Post by **primacoffee** » July 25th, 2018, 11:48 am

TomC wrote:Pure N2 cartridges are also available, outside of the manufacturer of the NitroPress. I've only done it with the N2O ones, just to play with it, I'm not sure how different it would be, but if someone already owns a whipping siphon, you could probably use N2 cartridges and get near identical results and save a lot of money.

https://www.amazon.com/N2-cartridge-Bre ... B079YM1NH6

I wouldn't call it identical as the texture is still not quite right, but it's closer than N2O. With a thin "injector" tip I was able to get much closer to the creaminess you'd get from a stout faucet. We did a video using one of those tips earlier this year:

That was with an N2 cartridge. N2O does not produce the same quality foam even with a thin tip. The bubbles are larger and coarser, so you get more a dry foam rather than what I'd call a "head." It's rather like the difference between the faux crema you'd get off a pressurized basket/portafilter or Nespresso, and the real crema off a standard basket.

#10: Post by **tglodjo** » July 25th, 2018, 2:15 pm

FWIW, here's a video of me using the Nitro Press with N2O (nitrous oxide). I didn't have any nitrogen cartridges, so I improvised with N2O since a local store had some. The foam was crazy. Too much. And when it settled, there was no head. The cold brew tasted great, but it didn't have the mouthfeel or appearance I expect from using pure N2 with the unique Nitro Press dispensing tip.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Blg7PR-lLy6 ... by=tglodjo